Bait And Switch
by LilyGhost
Summary: Stephanie says yes to doing a job for Ranger and follows through even when the end game changes.


**Ranger, Stephanie, and any familiar event mentioned, belong to Janet. The mistakes are mine alone.**

"Hey, Babe."

"Hiya, Batman. What's up?"

Ranger isn't a man who calls just to kill time. Although I know he finds me really amusing, having an actual conversation with me he usually sees as just a side bonus.

"I need you to get dressed for a job," I was told.

"Are we talking short and trashy? Long and classy? Or jeans with Cat boots and a loaded Smith and Wesson?"

"You should always have a gun on you and bullets inside it."

"Yeah, yeah ... I've heard that before."

"You did. I said as much yesterday."

" _Huh_ … I don't remember that. I must've been distracted by that tight T-shirt you were practically bursting out of and the pizza and wine you brought along with it. So what should I be putting on?"

"Something dressy, but not revealing. Think church-friendly."

I had a lot of ideas in mind for what this job could entail, but that wasn't the response I was expecting to hear. He did hire me once to get a minor league moron out of a funeral home so clearly no scenario is off the table. As if sensing I was about to play a one-sided game of twenty questions, Ranger made a move to thwart it.

"I'll explain when I pick you up in twenty-minutes. Be ready."

"And if I'm not ... are you going to come up and get me?"

My flirt hit its mark and I felt his pause as he tried to decide if I'm finally ready to back up my words. It feels like Morelli has been in my past longer than I was ever stuck with him, but I've been slow in making anything with Ranger permanent beyond just friendly dates with him. Whether it's now the right time, or long past time, I'm fully prepared to confront all the stuff he stirs up in me.

"I'll always track you down, Babe. Ready or not," Ranger warned me.

My smile was truly pathetic, but I was okay with letting it explode across my face anyway.

"See you in twenty minutes ... _eighteen_ if you're in a hurry to see me," I teased.

"If you're going by that, I'll be there in eleven. Change fast."

I was fanning my face before I heard and felt him disconnect.

"With any luck, Rex," I told my roommate, "you'll get the whole place to yourself for supper and breakfast."

As that was being said, I used up two of my minutes to add some more food, two baby carrots, and a cracker, to his dish and changed the water in his bottle again before I hauled my now nervous ass to my closet. I have skip-bait clothes, one funeral outfit, and way too much drag-my-ass-out-of-bed-to-go-to-Vinnie's casual crap. God and churchgoer-approved clothing that is also dressy, will likely take a little creativity.

I wanted to dress to his specifications, but I also hope to be able to turn Ranger on the process, so I chose a simple silver dress that has no sleeves, only the barest hint of cleavage, and a flowy skirt with a slight asymmetrical hem in the front of it. I paired it with strappy silver heels, cubic zirconia earrings, touched up my makeup, and added a hair twist plus tons of hairspray to my curls.

I was walking out of my bedroom with my dress coat in hand when Ranger flipped my locks and stepped into my apartment. His dark eyes felt like his fingers were skimming my body and I shivered at what my skin believed was actual physical contact.

"Looking good, Babe," he told me.

I figured he meant it because his eyes didn't come off me. "You're looking pretty good yourself," I told him, subjecting him to a similar body scan, taking in his black suit, slate blue dress shirt sans tie, and spit-shined Bates boots used to party rather than kick asses.

What my stomach, and all body parts above and below it, told me is that what I'm feeling is something stronger than just _friendly_ appreciation. I tried to casually check my mouth for drool before he noticed what I was doing.

"You ready?" He asked me.

"Yup ... right after you tell me what we're doing and who we're grabbing."

"You're the only one I'm picking up today. This is a job of a more personal nature," he told me.

"Really? How so?"

"You're my date to the christening of Celia's son."

I went still, not quite believing what I heard. "We're about to go to your nephew's christening?"

"Yes ... if you're not going to bail on me now."

"You know I'd do anything for you. I just wasn't expecting your family to be included in anything you need from me. You've always kept them out of our relationship beyond just a sentence or two. Last I heard, Celia had just gotten married. Looks like she's been busy since then."

"It's time to introduce you to everyone ... and them to you."

That surprised me, but it shouldn't. We've always been connected in some weird way, not even counting my neck tingle, so it makes an odd kind of sense that we have reached the point of no return at the same exact time.

"Ummm ..."

"Don't worry, Steph, they're going to love you. Like what happened with me, they won't be able to help it."

I got goosebumps hearing that, but I needed to know something before we leave.

"Why did you set this date up as a last-minute job?" I asked him, not knowing why it matters ... just that it does.

"If I told you ahead of time that I'd like you to not only meet my parents, but accompany me to a family event where every Manoso will be in attendance, what would you have done?"

"I would've tried to back out of it. And then I would have called myself a chickenshit for acting like an idiot about it and re-agreed to go with you after I had a thirty-minute conversation with myself ... and possibly you ... on whether it's a good idea or not. Usually people need time to get used to the idea of me before having to actually meet me."

"And now?"

"I'm dressed up, psyched-up, and I'm a little scared at how excited I am to be let into this part of your life. This is pretty big."

"It is. And you could regret that answer in an hour."

"That's entirely possible, but I'm willing to risk it."

"Some things are worth chancing," he said, taking my coat and holding it out for me to slide on.

After I grabbed my shoulder bag, he got all the doors for me ... from my apartment, to the elevator, and both the Turbo and church doors. I felt a little nauseous, happy, but most of all ... really cared for. Even if his family hates me, I think he'll still love me despite their disapproval.

I shook hands and exchanged hugs with his parents, siblings, and grandparents, and my thigh stayed pressed to Ranger's during what would normally be a brain-numbing ceremony. But I paid attention to every second of it like I _was_ on a job, not wanting to be blindsided by anyone or any question, or God help me ... mix up anybody's name, after we leave the church and end up back at what I discovered was Celia's brick mega-house just outside of Newark.

I'm not a kid-person beyond spoiling my nieces, but for the minute or two when I did hold Ranger's nephew, Nathaniel - or Nat as I'm already calling him in my head - I felt something horrible bubbling up inside me ... like this baby-thing isn't as appalling as I once found it. Having little Nat's almost black eyes staring up at my face, I believe we could've been telling each other the same thing ... that we are both meant to be here.

He was born into the Manoso family, so his position as the little prince goes uncontested and Julie remains their gutsy and extremely gifted girl, but being here as Ranger's plus-one not only got me through the door ... it got me an open invite to his family's homes that started today as we all celebrate the fact that the world now has another Manoso in it.

"This isn't as terrifying as you feared, is it?" Ranger asked me, curling his arms around me from behind as I was standing back by the living room windows, absorbing how a normal family, who actually like each other, interacts.

I really should be taking notes on this in case I ever find myself wanting to do a Burg versus the world behavioral study one day.

"No, it isn't," I answered. I turned in his arms and tipped my head slightly back to meet his eyes. "This isn't typically what I picture when I'm thinking of a ' _good time'_ with you, but I'm really glad that you invited me here so I could be part of this."

"To what extent?" He challenged me.

" _Honestly?_ "

"Yes."

"I'd be happy with any label your family wants to give me, but I'll admit ... after all the ones I've overheard since we got here, ' _Carlos' girlfriend_ ' is my favorite so far."

"It can easily become a permanent one until you're ready to discuss further options."

I balanced on the toes of my heels and briefly pressed my lips to his. "Whenever you're ready to talk options, just name the time and the place and I'm there, but until that date ... I'm happy to be _yours_ in any way I _can_ be."


End file.
